10-12 11-12 12 9-12 Adult Fiction Narrative Young Adult

Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar

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Published: 2023
Series: N/A
Author: Richard Chizmar
Illustrator: N/A
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, True Crime, Audiobook, Adult, Suspense
Audience (Grade Levels): High School (Grades 9-12 / Adult crossover featured)
Number of Stars: ⭐⭐
Goodreads Link: Chasing the Boogeyman
Triggers: Graphic violence, death, references to sexual assault
Review By: Evan Waugh

Publisher’s Summary:

Goodreads Choice Award: Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Horror (2021)
The New York Times bestselling coauthor of Gwendy’s Button Box brings his signature prose to this story of small-town evil that combines the storytelling of Stephen King with the true-crime suspense of Michelle McNamara.

In the summer of 1988, the mutilated bodies of several missing girls begin to turn up in a small Maryland town. The grisly evidence leads police to the terrifying assumption that a serial killer is on the loose in the quiet suburb. But soon a rumor begins to spread that the evil stalking local teens is not entirely human. Law enforcement, as well as members of the FBI are certain that the killer is a living, breathing madman—and he’s playing games with them. For a once peaceful community trapped in the depths of paranoia and suspicion, it feels like a nightmare that will never end.

Recent college graduate Richard Chizmar returns to his hometown just as a curfew is enacted and a neighborhood watch is formed. In the midst of preparing for his wedding and embarking on a writing career, he soon finds himself thrust into the real-life horror story. Inspired by the terrifying events, Richard writes a personal account of the serial killer’s reign of terror, unaware that these events will continue to haunt him for years to come.

A clever, terrifying, and heartrending work of metafiction, Chasing the Boogeyman is the ultimate marriage between horror fiction and true crime. Chizmar’s writing is on full display in this truly unique novel that will haunt you long after you turn the final page.

Review:

There were a lot of reasons why I should have liked Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar, a Stephen King protegé and past collaborator: the book features a fictional murder investigation set in a small Maryland town that could be confused with one of King’s very own signature towns. Additionally, the mystery surrounding the killer and their crimes intensifies to the point where both take on a supernatural quality. Despite this all, Chasing the Boogeyman was a slog, making more investments into its fictional world than those that actually pay off.

My main gripe about Chizmar’s novel is that he, himself, is the main character in his fictional tale. While there have been other novels that have attempted this metafictional style of writing (book 6 of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, Song of Susannah), the decision to do so is just distracting, and makes me less willing to believe in the character. Furthermore, Chizmar’s fictional self drones on incessantly, a quality made worse by the narrator of the audiobook. Chizmar also spends quite a bit of time establishing the town of Edgewood, Maryland, an actual town to the northeast of Baltimore. While it is always enjoyable to spend time following the narrator as they take you through these worlds, Chizmar’s narration of Edgewood again feels like more dry information, rather than a living and breathing place.

Perhaps my experience with Chasing the Boogeyman would have been different if I had read the print version, but the audiobook was certainly not the most entertaining experience.

Classroom & Curricular Connections:

  • English Language Arts (ELA): This novel provides an interesting case study for high school seniors or advanced creative writing students to analyze the concept of metafiction—specifically how an author inserts their real identity into a fictional narrative. It also provides opportunities to contrast standard horror prose with true-crime journalistic style writing.
  • Social Studies & Media Literacy: Can be used to examine the psychology of communities trapped in panic, curfew enactment, neighborhood surveillance, and how the “true crime” genre shapes or influences public perception and communal paranoia.
  • Extension Activity / Library Application:
    • Audiobook vs. Print Analytical Comparison: Librarians can use this title to lead high school book club discussions evaluating how a narrator’s vocal performance impacts pacing and audience engagement. Students can compare a dry audiobook experience against reading the physical print text.
    • Metafiction Writing Workshop: Have students write a short horror or mystery piece where they inject themselves as the main character, exploring the structural challenges of balancing personal history with fictional world-building.
  • Diversity & Representation: The book shifts its focus toward a highly specified suburban American perspective of the late 1980s, framing its cultural context around real-world locations like Edgewood, Maryland. While it highlights the shared anxieties of an integrated neighborhood watch coming together during a crisis, the narrative primarily utilizes traditional genre structures that emphasize localized paranoia over diverse cultural viewpoints.

Readalikes:

  • Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower, #6) by Stephen King
  • I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

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